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Summer Daze, Part II

Hello everyone! Summer is flying past and the gorgeous girl is back at school next week, which I cannot believe – where have the days gone?

I know I’ve been quiet on the blog front (again) this past week, though I haven’t been completely absent. The lovely Suzie, over at SuzieSpeaks, reblogged one of my posts this past weekend, which was a welcome boost – thanks, Suzie! And Lucy over at BlondeWriteMore included my in her list of What Writers Wear When Writing, taken from her excellent author interviews. Apparently when asked, I said I wore something ‘cool and glamorous.’ Well, I wish I could tell you that black track pants and a red Miffy t-shirt are cool and glamorous, but I think I must have been joking, or unusually well-groomed, when she asked me 😀

And so what have I been up to? I spent part of the weekend helping out with our dojo refurbishment. This is a fairly traditional part of martial arts – our dojo is a timber framed building in a private garden and, once a year, the adult students contribute their time and effort to sprucing it up for the coming winter. I was on measuring, then painting duties, and it was nice to see my fellow students again after our summer break.

I’ve also been hanging out with the gorgeous girl, taking her out for the day yesterday, having lunch and visiting shops, plus enjoying some art, craft and history at St Albans Cathedral. Today was more of a mundane at-home day, making sure we have everything ready for school next week, then a last-minute trip out to make the most of the glorious summer weather we’re having at the moment.

Oh, and writing? What’s that? Just kidding. I’ve now completed my edit on A Thousand Rooms, and am working up a launch strategy for the next month or two. ATR is quite a different read from my Ambeth books, aimed at an adult audience rather than YA, though with my usual twist of fantasy. Silver and Black is also calling to me, the manuscript rattling around in its digital drawer, so I know I need to look at that soon. There’s been a song in my mind this past little while, to the point where I ended up downloading it to Itunes – it’s an older song, but there is a vampire connection (no, it’s not by Muse), and it seems to me that the song will feature in Silver and Black.

I’m hoping to get a few more posts up this week, as well as make the rounds to see what everyone else has been up to. I’d also like to welcome some more new blog followers – thanks so much for choosing to come on the journey with me! And finally, I’ve been having fun with Instagram – I’ve been on there for a while and never done anything with it, now all at once I’m hooked. So if you want to find me on there, I’m helenejones33 – hope to see you!

And that’s about all for today. The sun is setting, last golden glow in a turquoise and purple sky outside my window. I think it might be time for a cuppa, and maybe a bit of reading, before bed. Hope you’re all having a wonderful summer – let me know in the comments what you’ve been up to!

Sounds like you’ve had a lovely summer with your gorgeous girl, Helen! Our days are lengthening and warming over here, the wildflowers are out, and I’m beginning to feel that the warmer weather is on the way.
Can’t wait to see what you’ve done with ATR. 🙂
x

Ah, beautiful spring – you get wonderful wildflowers down your way, don’t you? It is steaming humid here, and no sea breeze to temper it – not the weather I remember from when I lived in the UK before. To be honest, I’m looking forward to autumn, my favourite season 🙂 Though I have had a lovely summer with my gorgeous girl, definitely!
And ATR is coming along well – I think I’m almost ready to publish (though I do need to sort out a cover)… Where does the time go? 😀